A citizen is measuring his physical strength at the ‘Seoul Fitness 9988 Physical Fitness Certification Center’. [사진 서울시]
83.7 years old. This is the life expectancy of Koreans (based on births in 2024) compiled by the National Data Agency. However, healthy life expectancy, which is life expectancy excluding the period of illness, is only 65.5 years. This means that the majority of people will spend the last 18 years of their lives fighting large and small diseases and living long lives. Moreover, when physical health collapses, it often leads to threats to mental health, such as depression. This is why the World Health Organization (WHO) defines a ‘healthy state’ as a state free from not only physical diseases but also mental and social (relational) problems.
We live in an era where we have to worry about unhealthy old age. Health care has now become a necessity rather than an option. A survey by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency also found that two out of three Koreans (68.5%) are making consistent efforts to manage their health, including controlling their weight. Han Sang-ho (61), who was taking a walk along the Han River in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on the 22nd, is one of them. Mr. Han smiled and said, “I get depressed if I stay at home because I feel unwell, so I try to go outside and move my body even if it’s cold.”
Interest in health care has increased, but not everyone is getting the results they expected. In particular, the obesity rate among Koreans has risen by 26.9% over the past 10 years. As interest in physical health continues to grow, the city of Seoul is also actively responding. Seoul City, which judged that protecting citizens’ health before disease outbreaks would help reduce medical costs and improve health indicators, announced the ‘Healthier Seoul 9988’ comprehensive plan last September. A representative example is ‘Wrist Doctor 9988,’ a Seoul-type health care model.
Wrist Doctor 9988 encourages voluntary health management by letting people monitor their daily steps through an app and giving them points when they achieve their goals. With positive response from citizens, it has become integrated into daily life, with 2.6 million people using it to date. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is also pursuing a plan to add benefits such as discounts on public transportation fares and insurance premiums in ‘Wrist Doctor 9988 2.0’, which will be announced next year.
In subway stations with excellent accessibility, spaces to support citizen health care have also been created. Yeouinaru Station (Line 5) ‘Runner Station’, Ttukseom Station (Line 2) ‘Fit Station’, and Meokgol Station (Line 7) ‘Smart Move Station’ are being built, and runner support spaces such as changing rooms and storage lockers are being operated at Hoehyeon Station (Line 4), Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5), and World Cup Stadium Station (Line 6). As a result, Seoul’s walking practice rate, calculated by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, was 69.0%, ranking first in the country. This figure is 20 percentage points higher than the domestic average (49.2%).
Seoul City, which sensed citizens’ high interest in physical health, also opened the ‘Seoul Fitness 9988 Physical Fitness Certification Center’ on the 1st. This is a place where citizens can comprehensively measure their physical fitness and receive customized exercise prescriptions and counseling based on the results. As citizens flock to the four areas that were first opened, including Dongdaemun-gu, Gwangjin-gu, Dobong-gu, and Songpa-gu, the city of Seoul plans to expand installation to all 25 autonomous districts next year. Through this plan, the Seoul Metropolitan Government aims to increase the exercise rate of Seoul citizens by 3 percentage points and increase healthy life expectancy by 3 years by 2030. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, “We will actively support citizens’ health through policies and social systems tailored to citizens beyond individual actions.”
